Ladder-adjusting means.



H. G. HILL.l

LAnm-:mmusm MEANS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY I?, 1917. Patented May14,1918.

INVENTOI"I #any /577/ ATTORN EY UNITED sTATEs rA'rnN'r HARRY GUY HILL,or *WHITE ysALivroN,` WASHINGTON.

LADDER-ADJUST'ING To all whom imag/'concern Be' it known that I, HARRYG.' HILL, a

OneV of the {niainf'objects of the invention isv to provide|` av`clamping' device of vsimple construction andfopera'tion whichmay bereadily'lappliedto a ladder vof standard construction.: A further objectisrto provideay clamping-device and operating means therefor which maybe quickly and-easily" moved and the extension piece mounted thereon soas to securelylock these-two members together. A still further object isto provide a clamp composed of a :minimum of parts which may be readilyproduced" at small cost. Further objects will appear from thedetailed'description.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a fragmentary side View of a ladder with theclamping means applied,

Fig. 2 is a section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3 3 of Fig. 1.

The leg 1 of the ladder is of usual construction being of rectangularshape in cross section. An extension piece 2 which is shaped similar tothe leg 1 is mounted on the outer face of the leg so as to be slidablethereon. A metal plate 3 is iixedly secured to the outer face ofextension piece 2 a. short distance from the upper end thereof. Anoutwardly extending stud 4 is xedly secured to strip 3 adjacent one endthereof, and the other end of the strip is provided with a centralrecess the sides of which form the two lateral guide fingers 5. An outerrectangular clamping jaw 6 is mounted about the extension piece 2 andthe leg 1. The outer arm 7 of this jaw extends across the outer face ofstrip or piece 2 and is provided, at its rearward end, with alongitudinally extending slot 8 which loosely receives stud at, alimiting nut 9 being threaded on the stud in front of the arm. The frontarm 10 of the jaw 6 extends across the Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented" May 14, 191s.

Application medJuiy' 17, 191,7.' serial N.'1s'1',145.

front' ved'ges'of leg 1 and piece 2. Arm 10 is loosely mounted throughan eye 11 formed atf-th'e front end of the inner jaw l2 which isstraight, and which is toothed as at 15 so as to grip ladder' raill 1tightly.y The eye 11 isdisposed at an angle to jaw 12, as shown, and theouter bar of this'eye is in close en'- gagement with the front edge ofarm 10' of jaw; 6; By forcing the arm 7 of the jaw away from extensionpiece 2,l the outward pressure on this arm, being exerted intermediatethe ends thereof,' the arm willv be caused'to rock about the stud 4,thus swinging arm 10 outward and forwardwhich results in forcing jaw 12into tigh't engagement with the inner face ofl leg 1, the' eye 11 beingin biting'en'gagement with'arin 10,'as clearly-shown in Fig. 2 of thedrawings. Vhenthe outer jaw of the clamp is operated in thisl manner,the ladder leg and extension piece are firmly secured together, as inFig. 2 of tl1'edrawings,'the eyell being forced into biting engagementwith member 10;

A wedge disk`16 is rotatably mounted on plate 3 on ya headed pin 17securedl at the longitudinal center-of the' plate.' This disk tapersdiametrically in thickness, as shown, and is providedwith an integraloperating handle 18. By turning the disk so as to force the thickenedportion thereof beneath arm 7 of outer clamp jaw 6, the forward portionof the aw will be swung outwardly and forwardly in the manner described,the edge of nut 9 acting as a fulcrum point for this operation of thejaw. This results in swinging front arm 10 of jaw 6 forwardly andoutwardly forcing the jaw 12 toward the leg 1 so as to tightly grip thesame. During this operation, the front arm 10 of jaw 6 is in engagementwith the front edge of piece 2 so as to prevent forward movement of thesame.

As will be noted more particularly from Fig. 1 ofthe drawings, the wedgedisk 16 is positioned intermediate the plate 3 and the outer arm of theouter jaw, and the handle 18 for operating this disk is so disposedthat, when the outer jaw has been forced outwardly to its extremeposition, the handle is disposed substantially in parallelism with theextension piece 2. This avoids all unnecessary projections, such aswould interfere with the use of the device on a ladder for the purposespecified, while producing a clamp capable of exerting a comparativelygreat *clamping effect due to the sake of clearness in description, butit pliedto the ladder leg and vextension piece the fact that the'outerarm of the outer jaw is fulcruined at its outer end, the wedge diskbeing positioned inside of the fulcrum c to piece 2 and lits aboutth-erearward edge of leg 1 a short distance below the clamp.

This bracket actsto secure the leg 1 against rearward movementindependently of the extension piece 2 thus insuring that the toothedinner surface of the clamping jaw 12v will engage tightly with the innerface of the ladder rail 1. A pin 20 is inserted through the inner end ofthe forward arm 10 of outer clamping jaw 6 and serves to 4 preventcomplete withdrawal` of this arm from eye 11. Y

In describing the application of the clamp I have referred to thevarious surfaces of the leg 1 and the extension piece Zas inner andouter, and forward and rearward, for

will be obvious that the clamp may be ap# in any preferred manner.

In using my device an extension piece 2 is mounted oneach leg or rail ofthe ladder.

I These extension pieces may be quickly and easilyv adjustedindependently longitudinally of the'l'adder rails by -the clamping meansabove described."1This vrenders it possible to adjust the effectivelength of each rail of theladder 'so as to overcome any unevenness intheground or surface upon which the ladder rests thus insuring a true andaccurate set oftheladder. It will be obvious that the extension piece 2can be of any desired length andcan be secured on jtheladder rail atany. desired the ends thereof.

WhatI claim is point intermediate -In ladder adjustingmeans, a--clampingdevice com rising .aninner clam in 'aw provided at Lone end with anintegral eye, a plate adapted to be secured to an eXten` sion pieceslida-ble onaladder'rail `so as to Vary Ythe effective ylength thereof,an outer rectangular or L-shaped clamping jaw hav-` ing its outer armextending in parallelism with said inner' jaw .and loosely secured atits outer end to saidplate adjacent one end thereof, the inner arm ofsaid outer jaw beingl inserted through l saidl eye, and ka wedge memberrotatably mounted between said plate andthe louter. arm of theI outer.y

jaw for rocking said jaw upwardly away.

from the plate.` p

In testimony whereof I afix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

. HARRY GUY HILL. jWitnesses:

H. L. DEOKERT, i C. H. ESTES. j

Copiesl of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, bykalidresisingk the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

